An innovative system using mobile phones has been set up in 135 rural villages in Tanzania, covering a population of about one million, to keep track of stocks of anti-malarial drugs. Each week the local health facilities are sent an automated SMS to check that their stocks of these drugs are not running too low. Staff can then reply via SMS toll-free to a data-base system hosted in the UK with requests for the medicines they need. The supplies of Artemisinin-based combination therapy drugs and quinine injectables are then traced and dispatched as needed.

In the first weeks of the system the stock-outs were reduced by about 75 per cent. The country

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Wanted in Africa, part of the Wanted Worldwide network, is a website in English for expatriates in Africa established in 2006. We cover Europe's news stories that may be of interest to English speaking residents along with tourists as well. Our publication also offers classifieds, photos, information on events, museums, churches, galleries, exhibits, fashion, food, and local travel.
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